It started by leaking compression in the back where the head meets the engine block. From there, it progressed to an overheating condition and eventually caused damage to the cylinder head. When I pulled the head to see what might have gone wrong, I noticed at least three of the head screws were loose and the others were just finger tight. Once I pulled the head, I found no head gasket (no remnants of a gasket that might have once been there either). My guess is whoever put it together on the assembly line at the factory had drifted off into lala land while my engine was passing through his hands.